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Governor Signs Tough Immigration Bill

POSTED: 3:22 pm EDT April 17, 2006

ATLANTA -- Gov. Sonny Perdue on Monday signed a sweeping immigration bill into law that advocates from both sides say is among the toughest in the nation.

Perdue said that does not mean that Georgia's government is anti-immigrant. He said proponents of the law simply feel that everyone who lives in Georgia should comply with the law.

The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act will verify that adults seeking many state-administered benefits are in the country legally. It sanctions employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants and mandates that companies with state contracts check the immigration status of their employees.

The law also will require police to check the immigration status of people they arrest to see if they face deportation orders.

"We recognize that immigration is ultimately a national issue that needs a national solution," Perdue said in a statement. "Because we need to know who is living here in Georgia, and for that matter, who is living in our country."

The governor signed the bill as an anti-immigration rally was held at the Capitol to counter a pro-immigration rally held earlier this month.

The National Conference of State Legislatures says the measure is believed to be the first comprehensive immigration bill to make it through a statehouse this session.

Many of the new law's provisions will not take effect until 2007.

The move to tighten up rules in Georgia comes as lawmakers in Washington wrestle with competing proposals to shore up controls at the border and to create a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the United States.